US4081791A - Methods and apparatus for making writing legible by a machine for recognizing shapes - Google Patents

Methods and apparatus for making writing legible by a machine for recognizing shapes Download PDF

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Publication number
US4081791A
US4081791A US05/669,618 US66961876A US4081791A US 4081791 A US4081791 A US 4081791A US 66961876 A US66961876 A US 66961876A US 4081791 A US4081791 A US 4081791A
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Prior art keywords
segments
displays
grid
information
support
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US05/669,618
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English (en)
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Jean Pollard
Pierre Pollard
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V30/00—Character recognition; Recognising digital ink; Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition
    • G06V30/10—Character recognition
    • G06V30/22—Character recognition characterised by the type of writing
    • G06V30/224—Character recognition characterised by the type of writing of printed characters having additional code marks or containing code marks
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
    • G06V10/10—Image acquisition

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to making writing legible by a simple machine for recognizing shapes, preferably when this writing is hand writing
  • Characters comprising seven segments are known, in particular those which appear in a luminous manner on the digital displays of certain miniaturized calculators.
  • the object of the present invention is therefore to make hand writing perfectly legible by a machine, without it being necessary to transcribe it into a language which can be assimilated by the latter.
  • the use of such a machine makes it possible to eliminate a large number of expensive staff, to protect the staff present from the stresses of paying sustained attention, to obtain a high production speed and, finally to reduce the time lost in classification and investigations, thus minimizing the forwarding duration of documents (letters, cheques, invoices etc.).
  • the object of the present invention is also to simplify to the extreme, machines for recognizing shapes, which are used for this purpose. In the first place, this results in the investment costs being considerably reduced and in the second place, the machines may be multiplied in number and dispersed geographically, which facilitates instantaneous and de-centralized processing of information.
  • the present invention proposes to achieve the aforementioned objectives, which the above-described attempts were unable to do. It achieves the latter by putting into concrete form:
  • a generic grid having a voluntary limited power of representation which comprises, by construction, topological properties translated as a particular aptitude for decoding and the simple drawing of which requires a minimum apprenticeship
  • the method consists of inscribing each character in a seven segment formed from a pair of adjacent quadrilaterals preferably joined along a common segment and carried by a document and having two main reference directions each of which is oblique to the single direction of automatic reading to be followed by an appropriate, for example, optical detector in traversing the grids.
  • the posture of the grids with respect to a reference direction of the document writing support which may be the longitudinal edge of this support, is such that the single direction of automatic reading permits reading of all the grid segments by moving the detector forwards in a single passage.
  • the reading direction is parallel to a diagonal of the elementary quadrilateral of each grid defined by four grid segments.
  • detection of all the segments of a grid may be obtained by scanning in each of three reading channels traversing the grid and defined by four straight lines parallel to the reading direction and passing through all the intersection points of the segments composing a well positioned grid. Detectors passing across the grid within each of these channels therefore traverse distinct sets of grid segments. Detectable grid segments which legibly define a character are thereby detected and representative signals are registered, in a known manner, for subsequent automatic counting.
  • Table I The relationship between the counts thus obtained and the individual characters inscribed on the grids is shown in Table I, below.
  • the method is viable whether the writing is hand writing or is typed, printed or reproduced by any other means.
  • the method uses a chain of printed grids and, in addition, engraved in intaglio, a deposit of detectable material and a marker enabling the writer to follow the selected segments by pressing on the support.
  • the deposited detectable material is provided completely by the support, which makes it possible to guarantee the preproduceability of the message.
  • the writer traces each character of this message by following the corresponding segments of the grids with any tracer, in order that said message or its complement appears in detectable material on the existing part of the support.
  • FIG. 1 is a diagram showng the generalized implementation of the said method, according to the invention.
  • FIGS. 2 to 4 are views similar to FIG. 1, showing three particular ways of carrying out this method,
  • FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an optical decoy consisting of a plurality of parallel lines printed on an envelope and facilitating the transcription of characters for the writer, by giving him the impression that they are upright,
  • FIGS. 6 to 8 are diagrams illustrating three particular ways of carrying out the method of the invention, suitable when the transcription is hand written.
  • FIG. 1 shows a generic grid 1 which may be constructed in the following manner: four lines 1.1 to 1.4 are drawn parallel to a direction L and spaced apart by the distance 2d; convex quadrilateral ABCD is constructed on these four lines, by placing A on 1.3, B on 1.1, C on 1.2 and D on 1.4; the median line EF is drawn in by placing E on 1.2 and F on 1.3.
  • each segment is seen in the direction L which corresponds to the direction of automatic reading by a suitable detector (not shown), in a channel 3, 4 or 5 of width 2d (FIG. 1).
  • the trajectory in this direction L of 3 points a, b, c which together encounter all the segments of the grid may be defined with an accuracy of ⁇ d.
  • the points a, b, c represent, respectively a detection cell of a reading head moving in the direction L
  • the reading head may have a positioning uncertainty of ⁇ d, which is substantially equal to 1/6 of the largest dimension of the character.
  • this grid composed of seven segments could represent 128 possible characters, including a blank character.
  • an identification of this type can be carried out without ambiguity solely for the numbers 0 to 9 with a variation for five of them; this identification may also be carried out without ambiguity for eight letters and only six letters of them with the figures. There thus remain fifteen other more or less representative signs, which can be distinguished from the 36 characters identifiable from the 128 which can be inscribed.
  • reading of the characters may be achieved without ambiguity, either by detecting the segments actually composing each character (left-hand half of the Table), or by detecting the complementary segments, i.e. those which exist in the corresponding grid when the segments intended to compose the character have been selected.
  • the method of reading an isolated character may be clearly defined with reference to FIG. 1. It is sufficient that the reading direction L is inclined with respect to the two main significant directions M.1 and M.2 of the grid 1, M. 1 being a direction generally parallel to the small sides AD and BC of the grid, whereas M.2 is a direction generally parallel to the large sides AB and CD of this grid.
  • the directions M.1 and M.2 coincide with those of the small sides and large sides respectively of this parallelogram.
  • characters are inscribed in grids 2 which are in the form of a parallelogram.
  • a reference direction R of the writing support 6 this reference direction being materialized on the support as, for example able to that of the edge or other guideline or surface of the envelope, cheque or the like.
  • the reading direction L is parallel to the three other directions E, R and M.1. Now, as appears from the description of the grids 1 or 2 and the explanation of their properties from the point of view of detection, in order that the automatic reading may be carried out in a simple, reliable and economic manner, it is necessary that the reading direction L be inclined with respect to the main directions M.1 and M.2 of the grids constituting the chain.
  • the reference direction R, writing direction E and motif direction M.1 are parallel. One thus obtains a conventional line of writing.
  • the detection of each character is carried out, as shown in FIG. 1, by three reading heads each traversing and generating signals responsive to grid segments located within one of the three channels 3, 4 and 5.
  • a first set of reading heads for example, heads a.1, b.1 and c.1 (not shown) detect the first character
  • a second set of heads, a.2, b.2 and c.2 (not shown) the second characters - - - , and a.n, b.n and c.n the n th character in a chain.
  • the spacing between characters of a chain should be known in advance by the decoding machine (not shown) which identifies each character in a known way from the particular grid segment counts obtained by the detector and tabulated in Table 1.
  • the number of reading heads may be reduced.
  • the spacing "p" of the characters is equal to 4d/sin e, e being the angle formed by the directions E and L
  • the third reading trajectory c.n of a character of row n will coincide with the first reading trajectory a.n + 1 of the following character of row n+ 1.
  • the reading heads moving along the a.(l...n), trajectories make it possible to detect the segments of two adjacent characters located in the same reading channel.
  • the writing direction E and reading direction L are parallel, but inclined with respect to the reference direction R and motif direction M.1, M.2, the directions R and M.1 also being parallel.
  • One thus obtains a line of writing extending obliquely on the support 6, but remaining perfectly legible for the writer.
  • three reading heads are sufficient, since by travelling along the lines a, b, c common to all the characters, they have the possibility of detecting the latter in succession.
  • references for the beginning and end of the line or characters may be necessary and they are thus detected by reading heads which may, in certain cases, be those which travel along the lines a, b, c.
  • the writing direction E, reading direction L and reference direction R are parallel, but the main directions M. 1 and M.2 of the grids are inclined with respect to the preceding directions.
  • each of the grids 2 is postured so that its main direction M.1 is aligned parallel to the bands 15. Therefore, with respect to the bands 15, the grids 2 are erect. Accordingly, it is easier for the writer to inscribe a properly oriented character over the selected grid segments.
  • chains of characters illustrated and described may preferably be read by a machine designed specifically and which has the advantage of being simple, reliable, safe and above all economical to produce and use.
  • each grid 2 is drawn, by impression for example, on the support 6 in order to accurately define the contour of each of the segments which compose the latter.
  • this grid is engraved to form grooves 8 materializing the segments and serving as a guide for a tracer used by the writer.
  • the grids 2 of the chain are previously coated with a deposit of optically active material 9 and in particular acting by selective reflectivity, by luminescence or fluorescence.
  • this material has a slight contrast to the background of the support in order that it is easily visible for the writer and that the latter is easily able to distinguish the impression which he makes in each grid with the shape corresponding directly to the character chosen.
  • the writer uses any tracer, such as a pencil, ball point pen, felt pen etc. and with this tracer follows the selected segments, being guided, if the latter are engraved, in the grooves which materialize the latter.
  • the material 10 deposited by this tracer covers the optically active material. Under these conditions, the reading heads detect the parts of the grids complementing the covered parts defining the characters, this detection being registerable in coded form as illustrated by the three right-hand columns of table I.
  • the support 6 is covered by a detachable transfer sheet 11.
  • the chain of grids 2 is traced and preferably engraved on the front side of the sheet 11, whereof the reverse side is previously covered with an optically active pressure transferable material 12 having a sufficient contrast with the background of the support to be distinguishable, after transfer, by the writer.
  • this writer thus uses a tracer of the same type as previously in order to leave an impression on the front side of the sheet 11.
  • This tracer may also be a simple probe, since it is a question of pressing with the tracer to transfer the material 12 from the rear side of the sheet 11 to the support 6, at the location of the writing.
  • the reading heads may detect the grid segments forming the characters as set forth in coded form in the three left-hand columns of the Table I.
  • the optically active material 12 is replaced by a magnetically active material.
  • the support is coated with a photosensitive material and developer.
  • the active material 12 deposited on the rear side of the transfer sheet 11 is mixed with a dry fixing agent.
  • the support 6 is covered with a detachable transfer sheet 11.
  • a first chain of grids 22a is drawn and preferably engraved on the front side of the sheet 11, whereof the rear side is coated with a masking material 13.
  • a second chain of grids 2b is simply drawn opposite the first, on the support 6.
  • the segments of these grids 2b are coated with a detectable active material 14, which may be an optically active material of the type above-mentioned, or even a magnetically active material.
  • the writer uses a tracer either leaving or not leaving an impression on the sheet 11.
  • the detectable active material deposited on the grids 2b of the support 6 is covered with a photosensitive material and developer, which may also be spread beyond.
  • the rear side of the sheet 11 is coated, no longer with a masking material 13, but with a dry fixing agent.
  • the method which is the object of the invention may be applied to the idea, production and automatic reading of writing, more specifically when the latter is hand written. It also relates to a teaching for simplification of machines for reading shapes. It also enables the user to complete any of the various documents such as envelopes for letters, cheques, invoices, statements etc., personally and with any tracing member.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
  • Character Input (AREA)
US05/669,618 1975-03-26 1976-03-23 Methods and apparatus for making writing legible by a machine for recognizing shapes Expired - Lifetime US4081791A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR7509521 1975-03-26
FR7509521A FR2305802A1 (fr) 1975-03-26 1975-03-26 Procede pour rendre une ecriture lisible par une machine de reconnaissance de forme
DE19762641208 DE2641208A1 (de) 1975-03-26 1976-09-14 Verfahren zum maschinellen lesen von schrift

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US4081791A true US4081791A (en) 1978-03-28

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US (1) US4081791A (de)
DE (1) DE2641208A1 (de)
FR (1) FR2305802A1 (de)
GB (1) GB1548647A (de)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4352012A (en) * 1980-02-22 1982-09-28 Verderber Joseph A Header sheet for image communications system
US4876731A (en) * 1988-02-19 1989-10-24 Nynex Corporation Neural network model in pattern recognition using probabilistic contextual information
US5892849A (en) * 1995-07-10 1999-04-06 Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. Compaction/motion estimation method using a grid moving method for minimizing image information of an object
US6246793B1 (en) * 1993-02-03 2001-06-12 International Business Machines Corp. Method and apparatus for transforming an image for classification or pattern recognition
US6503605B1 (en) * 1997-05-20 2003-01-07 Kathleen Paul-Lieberman Luminescent cards with detachable decorative items and method of manufacturing Luminescent cards with detachable decorative items

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2194092B (en) * 1986-08-05 1990-08-08 Michael Marie Henrie Jausions Machine readable characters
GB2218838A (en) * 1988-05-17 1989-11-22 Joseph William Gleeson Character recognition

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2937283A (en) * 1957-11-25 1960-05-17 Ibm Scanning device
US2963220A (en) * 1954-06-12 1960-12-06 Nederlanden Staat Information bearer for recording figures in a styled form
US3011905A (en) * 1959-09-09 1961-12-05 Columbia Ribbon & Carbon Manifold system comprising reactant donor and receptor sheets
US3381274A (en) * 1959-12-18 1968-04-30 Ibm Recognition systems
US3485168A (en) * 1967-02-20 1969-12-23 Meredith Publishing Co Method for forming written symbols to be read by automatic character recognition equipment
US3559170A (en) * 1967-03-07 1971-01-26 William S Barnes Methods and apparatus for data input to a computer
US3731276A (en) * 1971-05-19 1973-05-01 Terminal Data Corp Retrieval code
US3733468A (en) * 1970-03-18 1973-05-15 United States Banknote Corp Two track embossing product
US3786237A (en) * 1972-03-13 1974-01-15 R Postal Mechanically readable system using premarked substrate

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2963220A (en) * 1954-06-12 1960-12-06 Nederlanden Staat Information bearer for recording figures in a styled form
US2937283A (en) * 1957-11-25 1960-05-17 Ibm Scanning device
US3011905A (en) * 1959-09-09 1961-12-05 Columbia Ribbon & Carbon Manifold system comprising reactant donor and receptor sheets
US3381274A (en) * 1959-12-18 1968-04-30 Ibm Recognition systems
US3485168A (en) * 1967-02-20 1969-12-23 Meredith Publishing Co Method for forming written symbols to be read by automatic character recognition equipment
US3559170A (en) * 1967-03-07 1971-01-26 William S Barnes Methods and apparatus for data input to a computer
US3733468A (en) * 1970-03-18 1973-05-15 United States Banknote Corp Two track embossing product
US3731276A (en) * 1971-05-19 1973-05-01 Terminal Data Corp Retrieval code
US3786237A (en) * 1972-03-13 1974-01-15 R Postal Mechanically readable system using premarked substrate

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4352012A (en) * 1980-02-22 1982-09-28 Verderber Joseph A Header sheet for image communications system
US4876731A (en) * 1988-02-19 1989-10-24 Nynex Corporation Neural network model in pattern recognition using probabilistic contextual information
US6246793B1 (en) * 1993-02-03 2001-06-12 International Business Machines Corp. Method and apparatus for transforming an image for classification or pattern recognition
US5892849A (en) * 1995-07-10 1999-04-06 Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. Compaction/motion estimation method using a grid moving method for minimizing image information of an object
US5903670A (en) * 1995-07-10 1999-05-11 Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. Grid moving apparatus for minimizing image information of an object
US6115501A (en) * 1995-07-10 2000-09-05 Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., Ltd. Grid moving method for minimizing image information of an object
US6503605B1 (en) * 1997-05-20 2003-01-07 Kathleen Paul-Lieberman Luminescent cards with detachable decorative items and method of manufacturing Luminescent cards with detachable decorative items

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2641208A1 (de) 1978-03-16
FR2305802B1 (de) 1977-11-18
DE2641208C2 (de) 1987-07-23
FR2305802A1 (fr) 1976-10-22
GB1548647A (en) 1979-07-18

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